Signal data has been used to identify the location of mobile devices for many years. The signal data collected by such devices may also be used to identify physical structure in areas around the device, such as transitions between outside a structure and inside a structure, when a device is near a window (in which case it may be able to receive GPS data), and certain structure can be inferred based on the signal data, such as hallways, stairways, and elevators.
Numerous commonly assigned patents, all of which are incorporated by reference, describe various of the above aspects, including: U.S. Pat. No. 8,688,375 issued Apr. 1, 2014, U.S. Pat. No. 8,706,414 issued Apr. 22, 2014, U.S. Pat. No. 8,712,686 issued Apr. 29, 2014, U.S. Pat. No. 8,965,688 issued Feb. 24, 2015, U.S. Pat. No. 9,008,962 issued Apr. 14, 2015, U.S. Pat. No. 9,046,373 issued Jun. 2, 2015, U.S. Pat. No. 9,448,072 issued Sep. 20, 2016, U.S. Pat. No. 8,751,151 issued Jun. 10, 2014, U.S. Pat. No. 9,146,113 issued Sep. 29, 2015, U.S. Pat. No. 9,664,521 issued May 30, 2017, U.S. Pat. No. 9,322,648 issued Jun. 16, 2016, U.S. Pat. No. 9,823,068 issued Nov. 21, 2017, U.S. Pat. No. 9,395,190 issued Jul. 19, 2016, U.S. Pat. No. 9,671,224 issued Jun. 6, 2017, and U.S. Pat. No. 9,733,091 issued Aug. 15, 2017.
The mapping of complex buildings is often done with handheld devices that have limited display and user interface capabilities. While the techniques described therein may be adequate for generating maps of the physical structure based on simple building footprints, complex buildings cannot be well described or mapped by as such and present new problems, require novel technical solutions disclosed herein.